Wrench.



A. E. HOLMES.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION man JUNE 21.1911.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

u.4 museum: raN. n. c.

. ALFRED E. HOLMES, ononrcneo, Iliinois. y

specification of Letters'ratent. Patented Aug, 217, 1913 Application filed .Tune 21, 1917. Serial No. 175,984. f.

To all whom t may conce/rn.: f

' Beit I-known that 'L'ALFRED E. HOLMES, a

L is'to provide a wrench in which the lmovable citizen vof the "United "States, residing at 'Chicago, yin the county `of *Cook and lState vof llinois, 'have invented'a certain newl and useful mprovemen-tin 1llVrenches, of which the `following `is afspecificaton. I f My invention 'relates to wrenches ofthe type sometimes known as fpipe wrenches.

vMy. present wrench is analogous-in some respetsflto the lone shown in f'Patent No.

' 1,117,574, granted to me 'Novemberfiz i914. 'Incertainaspectsmy present wrench is an improvementY over -Athe one shown in said patent. The object ofthe @present invention J'awf'vlscontrolled by a' worm Vwheel instead of .a ratchet, they 4worm wheelbeing .at all "timesin -mesh vwithV the lmovablejawland 'permitting lfiner adjustment than is obtainable .with a ratchet. Viewed in another way,

it-islan`1objcctof1my present .invention Yto provide a wrench 1n which the movable .iaw

is" operated by a worm, thediameter of which is not appreciably-greater;tlia1i-1tl1e thickness of the wrench. This makes it possible-'to insert the wrench in spaces which a thicker wrench could not enter. It also pre- *Vents theworin from `readily coming into contact with external objects, and thu'sha-v-` ing its adjustment changed or causing damage to such external object. Other characteristics of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

I accomplish my objects by the construction shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete wrench.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof showing the near half of the saddle cut away.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 2, but shows the movable jaw in non-acting position.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The handle l carries a Xed aw 2 which is provided with teeth 3 at the outer end for gripping the work. A saddle 4 is fastened to the fixed jaw, this being an arched piece which extends over the back of the movable jaw 5. This movable jaw has gripping teeth 6 which coperate with the teeth 3 to grip the work. The front or inner side of the movable jaw is provided with teeth f? inthe form `ofalrack which engages vand 1s operatedby. the worm 8. he edgesfofthe worin are knurled vto lfacilitateI nanipula- -tion,and,the saddle vhas.:openings 4a in the .sides to .afford access to -fthe worm. ,Thus ...the saddle virtually. `forms ya housing Ifor the wornrand .the other operating parts -of the.1

tool. A.Said-worm isrotatably mounted upon ashaft :9 ywhich is pivoted Y. at its outer end lupon `the pin 10 carried by the -saddle 4.

.A head 11fis formed'at the outer 4endof `the .-shaftfand this hasy a cylindricalsurface .12.v 1

.whichabears against a corresponding. surface :foi-ined ontheilixed jam asbestshown 1in :Figs -2 and .4. These cylindrical surfaces -areuconcentric with .the pin v.10 and relieve the pin ;of,;al l .of the strain .when the tool is v-in..a ction. A spacing collar `14holds the .worm in position onthe shaft and this .col-

lar 1s held 1n position by swaging :an annularfshoulder y15 oni the .innerL end of the shaft. The diameter lofthe edges of the. wormis little, .if any, greater thanthe width fof the saddle. Thusthe .wormis .largely if not entirely Lprotected yby the saddle.V `y`.It kwill Vbegunderstood, of course, that these struc- Ltural .details may be .altered if desired, 4the y most important characteristic being that the worm A .8: is .rotatable ,upon shaft 9 and said '.sha'ft is pivotally mounted uponv the' fixed jaw in such manner as to swing through a limited are in the plane of the tool.

A spring 17 is fastened to the back of the handle 1 and, at its free end, has a seat 18 in which sleeve 14 rests. The spring tends to hold the worm in engagement with the rack teeth 7 for all positions of the movable jaw. While not essential, this construction reduces friction between the non-rotating sprin and the rotating worm, for it will be seen that the spring bears against the collar and the worm is rotatable independently of the collar. A stop 20 rises from the back of the Xed 'aw in position to engage the collar 14 and prevent the worm from descending far enough to actually make contact with the jaw. By thus contacting the collar instead of the worm, friction, when the worm rotates, is further reduced.

In operation, when the Wrench is applied to the pipe, rod, or other piece of work, the operator increases the jaw opening by depressing` the inner end of the movable jaw and bringing it to the position shown in Fig. 4. The tool is then applied to the Work and the movable jaw released, whereupon lwrench may be manipulated very readily, and very fine adjustments may be obtained by rotating the Worm. As the edges ofthe worm project little, if any, beyond the sides of thesaddle, there is no danger that contact with surrounding objects will disturb the adjustment of the tool eitherl while it is in use or at any other time. It also enables the tool to enter and be used in spaces which would otherwise be too small. The parts are simple in form and possess great strength in spite of the fact that they occupy less space than other tools of this general kind.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw hav- 'ing a shank, a saddle fastened to the shank,

` and arching the back thereof, a movable jaw having a shank extending throughv the saddle for both longitudinal movement and movement toward and away from the shank of the fixed jaw, a rack on' the face of the shank of the movable j avv adjacent the shank of the fixed jaw, a shaft pivoted between the Shanks of the fixed and movable jaws, and having a shoulder on the free end thereof, a worm rotatable on said shaft and-coperating with said rack; a spacing collar loose on said shaft between the worm and shoulder, a stop on the shank of the fixed jaw engageable with said collar to limit movement of -the worm in one direction to a position of non-,engagement with the shank ofthe xed jaw, and spring means constantly urging the worm toward the shank of the movable jaw.

2. A wrench comprising a fixed j aw having a shank, a saddle fastened to the shank and arching the back thereof, a movable jaw having a shankv extending through the saddle for both longitudinal movement and movement toward and away from the shank of the fixed jaw, a rack ony the facer of the shank of the movable jaw adjacent the shank of the fixed jaw, a shaft pivoted between the shanks of the fixed and movable jaws, la worin rotatable on said shaft and coperating with said rack, and a leaf spring secured to the shank of the fixed jaw and havingfits free end curved transversely to slidably embrace the shaft and permit unrestricted rotation of the latter, said spring constantly urging` the Worm toward the shank of the movable jaw.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ALFRED E. HOLMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, ID. C. 

